LG and Evernym to Develop Blockchain Identity Standards
By Marko Vidrih on The Capital
South Korean LG and Evernym, a US company, will develop blockchain-based identification standards for the W3C consortium.
Aju Business Daily reports that LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG IT, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Evernym. The collaboration aims to develop international standards for digital identification at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
To create a new standard, both companies decided to jointly develop a decentralized authentication system based on the blockchain in order to replace the international driver’s license and passports currently used for this purpose. Evernym has already launched Sovrin, a platform that allows organizations and governments to issue, verify and manage digital credentials, such as digital passports.
Gabriel Kurman, a strategist at IOV Labs, who is developing his own identity management system, said creating an identity standard could significantly increase the security of personal data. He has high hopes for this system and considers it important that such solutions have open source code:
“I hope that this standard will help future generations restore the right to privacy in digital interactions that our generation has lost over the past 15 years. On the other hand, I would not want this tool to be used for mass surveillance by technology companies and governments ‘with good intentions’ under the guise of generally accepted standards. To avoid this, we need open source technologies, as well as public blockchains.”
Blockchain is increasingly being used to develop identification systems. In March, a system for identifying companies on the blockchain was launched in Dubai, and in February NongHyup Bank and SK Telecom announced the introduction of a mobile identification system on the blockchain.
In addition, in December, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka announced plans to develop a platform for identifying citizens on the blockchain, and in November the FATF published a draft guide on the implementation of digital identification systems. The guide also deals with the work of cryptocurrency and blockchain companies.
Author: Marko Vidrih
Featured image credit: Unsplash
